Junior Hockey 2020-21 Seasons are on Thin Ice

[RGM81]

https://www.cbc.ca/sports/the-buzzer...ckey-1.5779172

Interesting read - I didn't know that the WHL was hoping to have arenas at half-capacity when play is scheduled to resume in January. Whether it gets approved, up in the air, like the rest of it.

[30ranfordfan]

There was a bit from the provincial government in Ontario a while back (minister of Sport & Recreation) that the OHL will be asked to play without contact (i.e. no hitting) if (when?) it resumes.

That makes absolutely no sense to me.

COVID, I get it. Regardless of what side of the fence you sit on regarding lockdowns, etc - The government is sitting on the side that says activities that run a higher risk of transmission are either going to be temporarily banned, or modified to mitigate risk.

Restaurants are an east example. There's nothing inherently risking about take out or delivery, so it was never stopped. Packing a bunch of people into a small space, where they all breathe the same air for an extended period of time? Can't do that. Allow for a smaller group of people to do that (i.e. limiting capacity) - that's the current "happy medium".

So if the various CHL leagues resume with no fans, or limited fans: Based on what the governments are trying to accomplish, that makes sense.

Now, I can also see the concerns that hockey would bring, even with no fans in the building. The players are not living in a bubble. In Ontario in particular, with the rise in case counts, it seems likely that it would only be a matter of time before a player gets it from somewhere... and then it spreads throughout the dressing room. Maybe to an opposing team as well. If they were to say "no OHL this year" - I can at least understand where they're coming from.

Asking the league to remove checking seems ludicrous to me. The riskiest aspect of hockey for transmission would be dressing rooms, buses (when going on the road), and the bench.

As far as the actual game play, and the chances of passing it off to your opponent - the post game hand shake (I assume) will be gone... but hitting? The scrums, the holding, the close contact in front of the net - those would all seem like much more likely places to be passing covid to someone else than simply laying a hit on them.

It smacks of "well, we need to do something" but comes off as nonsensical.


I have a nickle that says the OHL season just won't happen. Period. Ontario is just going to keep rising numbers wise.... I expect more lockdown measures, no less, to be the next significant change. There's teams in the USA - I can't imagine that will work (granted, if there's no fans in the building - they could relocate for the season). The WHL will have that issue too.

[RGM81]

There was a bit from the provincial government in Ontario a while back (minister of Sport & Recreation) that the OHL will be asked to play without contact (i.e. no hitting) if (when?) it resumes.

That makes absolutely no sense to me.

COVID, I get it. Regardless of what side of the fence you sit on regarding lockdowns, etc - The government is sitting on the side that says activities that run a higher risk of transmission are either going to be temporarily banned, or modified to mitigate risk.

Restaurants are an east example. There's nothing inherently risking about take out or delivery, so it was never stopped. Packing a bunch of people into a small space, where they all breathe the same air for an extended period of time? Can't do that. Allow for a smaller group of people to do that (i.e. limiting capacity) - that's the current "happy medium".

So if the various CHL leagues resume with no fans, or limited fans: Based on what the governments are trying to accomplish, that makes sense.

Now, I can also see the concerns that hockey would bring, even with no fans in the building. The players are not living in a bubble. In Ontario in particular, with the rise in case counts, it seems likely that it would only be a matter of time before a player gets it from somewhere... and then it spreads throughout the dressing room. Maybe to an opposing team as well. If they were to say "no OHL this year" - I can at least understand where they're coming from.

Asking the league to remove checking seems ludicrous to me. The riskiest aspect of hockey for transmission would be dressing rooms, buses (when going on the road), and the bench.

As far as the actual game play, and the chances of passing it off to your opponent - the post game hand shake (I assume) will be gone... but hitting? The scrums, the holding, the close contact in front of the net - those would all seem like much more likely places to be passing covid to someone else than simply laying a hit on them.

It smacks of "well, we need to do something" but comes off as nonsensical.


I have a nickle that says the OHL season just won't happen. Period. Ontario is just going to keep rising numbers wise.... I expect more lockdown measures, no less, to be the next significant change. There's teams in the USA - I can't imagine that will work (granted, if there's no fans in the building - they could relocate for the season). The WHL will have that issue too.

On the hitting -- maybe I'm naive and missing something, but perhaps requiring players to wear full face shields is a mitigation means. No droplets, no spitting, etc. They require players in international play under 18 years old to wear the full cage, this isn't a huge leap, really. If the young man on the left can accumulate six goals and three assists as a 17 year old with the face shield, I'm sure today's youth can get by just fine.

[30ranfordfan]

On the hitting -- maybe I'm naive and missing something, but perhaps requiring players to wear full face shields is a mitigation means. No droplets, no spitting, etc. They require players in international play under 18 years old to wear the full cage, this isn't a huge leap, really. If the young man on the left can accumulate six goals and three assists as a 17 year old with the face shield, I'm sure today's youth can get by just fine.

The fact that full face shields have breathing holes, makes me believe that they'll be less effective than a cloth mask... but they would limit droplets, spitting, etc - as you said.

How effective? I don't know.... but it's not like major junior players have no experience wearing them. Every single one of them wore a full shield, or cage, until they joined the CHL. It would be "something" - even if it's little.

[RGM81]

Well, now it is confirmed. No hitting in the OHL this year.

https://twitter.com/sportsnet/status...109666817?s=21

[creasecollector]

Well, now it is confirmed. No hitting in the OHL this year.

https://twitter.com/sportsnet/status...109666817?s=21

Interesting.

[sparty07]

2 things, I have the bubble shield and I use a Bauer droplet screen that covers the top holes. it does prevent more direct breath spraying out of the holes, with the majority going down instead of straight across.

What about the teams in the USA who play in the CHL? There's 8 teams who would have to relocate(?) up to Canada, even assuming they get permission like the NHL did from the governments in Canada.

[30ranfordfan]

Well, now it is confirmed. No hitting in the OHL this year.

https://twitter.com/sportsnet/status...109666817?s=21

Confirmed, but not confirmed. The government has decreed it, but the OHL / CHL keep saying "no comment", or finding other ways to dance around the issue.

I heard one very good point (suggestion? observation?) made about this. It's not that the provincial government wants them to play without hitting, it's that the government doesn't want them to play, period. They also don't want to be the bad guys, and the ones who told the OHL they weren't allowed to.

If they order some unreasonable conditions around back-to-play, and keep the OHL off the ice for the year.... it will be the OHL's own fault if they don't play, since they were not willing to play by the rules. It's the pass-the-buck style that our provincial government employs at every opportunity.

Looking how things have gone in the QMJHL.... and how the COVID count keeps rising in Ontario.... I wouldn't surprise me in the least if before the end of the year, things like hockey have been shut down in Ontario again (or at least in all areas with denser populations). If the government said that the OHL can't return to play for this season, I could follow that logic.

The no hitting, and how that's supposed to lessen the risk of transmission, I have yet to read anything to convince me that it will accomplish anything.

2 things, I have the bubble shield and I use a Bauer droplet screen that covers the top holes. it does prevent more direct breath spraying out of the holes, with the majority going down instead of straight across.

What about the teams in the USA who play in the CHL? There's 8 teams who would have to relocate(?) up to Canada, even assuming they get permission like the NHL did from the governments in Canada.

That's a whole other mess, and I guess something they'll figure out in January. I'd assume they're already looking at Canadian rinks that the teams can play out of, in case they CAN play a season, but can't cross the border.